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Customer wants me back to clear gutters but his tiles go to far into the gutters .

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77
Location
Wiltshire
So basically I did a really underpriced gutter clear for £40.00 on a 3 bed detached . Started on the front the tiles were really close to the gutters closer than normal even my thinnest nozzle wasn't really chopping or moving side to side very well . 

Cut a long story short I did it to the best of my ability given the fact his roof tiles were really close to the gutter but out the back he had a single story extension , so same issues with the tiles again but 35ft of aluminium pole to try and move around and it was getting stuck alot I  cleared it pretty well but he's saying he got on his flat extension and can feel bits in there .

I want to just refund him and move on as a call back could mean doing by hand and my ladders won't do the front very well and I'm out of pocket at £40.

What would you guys do ? I do alot of gutter jobs and this is my first customer to complain.  

 
This is where you should have advised him at the time that because of the tiles you couldn't guarantee to get it all out. If you don't want to go back I'd suggest a partial refund and move on. Danger is he might leave a very bad review somewhere though. Try and judge his mood and make sure everything is in writing, text or email, otherwise it's his word against yours and you'll lose. 

 
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The other way to deal with jobs like this and clear them 100% is to use a ladder and garden hose disconnect the downpipes and blast all the dirt out the downpipes when it’s wet weather it works really well , not a pleasant job but it will clear them , the key to this is a thorough survey we all live and learn  

 
This is where you should have advised him at the time that because of the tiles you couldn't guarantee to get it all out. If you don't want to go back I'd suggest a partial refund and move on. Danger is those he might leave a very bad review somewhere though. Try and judge his mood and make sure everything is in writing, text or email, otherwise it's his word against yours and you'll 

The other way to deal with jobs like this and clear them 100% is to use a ladder and garden hose disconnect the downpipes and blast all the dirt out the downpipes when it’s wet weather it works really well , not a pleasant job but it will clear them , the key to this is a thorough survey we all live and learn  

Yeah I would do that but not for £40.00 

 
Unfortunately it's one of those jobs that bites you. You quote low and it turns into the most difficult one! Unfortunately if the custy has taken time to contact you with the issue they may also be the ones to take time to leave a bad review. Doesn't matter if you have txt etc as they don't stop -ve reviews. Only thing to really do is bite bullet and go back with ladders, then take picys to show custy. OK so a big loss financially but you wont have upset custy.

Might be worth getting a cheap action camera plus mount for pole and survey gutters before quote.

 
So basically I did a really underpriced gutter clear for £40.00 on a 3 bed detached . Started on the front the tiles were really close to the gutters closer than normal even my thinnest nozzle wasn't really chopping or moving side to side very well . 

Cut a long story short I did it to the best of my ability given the fact his roof tiles were really close to the gutter but out the back he had a single story extension , so same issues with the tiles again but 35ft of aluminium pole to try and move around and it was getting stuck alot I  cleared it pretty well but he's saying he got on his flat extension and can feel bits in there .

I want to just refund him and move on as a call back could mean doing by hand and my ladders won't do the front very well and I'm out of pocket at £40.

What would you guys do ? I do alot of gutter jobs and this is my first customer to complain.  
I had one a couple of years ago which was a nightmare. It was a g/f/s clean mid terrace, poor access, had to walk a ladder 200m to the back, empty by hand and clean by backpack. I pulled a bush out this guys gutters, genuinely about 25inches wide, then growing a further 30 inches up a gulley in the roof. I spent two hours pulling **** out his gutters, I’d underquoted massively and went home frustrated and hungry. I plugged the toaster in to eat whilst I ran a bath, then too late realised I’d actually plugged the booster pump in and thus had just broke a £300 booster pump.
 

Stewing in my rage and bath water an email from the house owner came through which I assumed would be him thanking me for a good job. As you can tell by the theme of the day it was him complaining he can see bits still in his gutter along with water when it hasn’t rained in weeks and a spider web from his bedroom window, although he was happy with the windows and would consider a regular clean he was unhappy with the state of the gutters. 
 

He was right, that the gutter he could see from his bedroom window was empty so I didn’t clear it and the water he could see was obviously the water from the pole. Despite the fact I had two full Tesco bags  just from his back gutters He’d been expected me to clean the interior of the gutter channels back to white. 
 

I replied to his email addressing his concerns, the time I was at the property, the difficulties with access, the water etc  but as a gesture of good will I will go round to his house with the money he’d left out for me. I got there hoping to talk face to face, nobody answered and I ended up posting the money through the letter box. 
 

For me, I knew I’d have to bite the bullet on this one as everything in his email screamed troublemaker. I’d rather give the money back than have someone badmouthing the company. I wouldn’t go over to do any more work on it as I’d already invested too much time on it and knew he wasn’t the type of customer I’d want nor get more work from. My view on this is not being a big company, 1 person with a grudge and access to social media could cause massive issues for me. 

You live and learn. I learned. 

 
I just inspect the gutters now and try not to give a price. If the tiles are too close then I say I would need to cut the tiles at a cost of £200 and clear gutters as well. Had no takers yet. ?

 
Unfortunately it's one of those jobs that bites you. You quote low and it turns into the most difficult one! Unfortunately if the custy has taken time to contact you with the issue they may also be the ones to take time to leave a bad review. Doesn't matter if you have txt etc as they don't stop -ve reviews. Only thing to really do is bite bullet and go back with ladders, then take picys to show custy. OK so a big loss financially but you wont have upset custy.

Might be worth getting a cheap action camera plus mount for pole and survey gutters before quote.
That's a good idea as it would save a lot of drama later on. However, we have come across some gutters that are fairly free flowing and might only have some muck in the gutter end caps on one side of the house but be full on the other side. You do run the risk of the customer requesting a price reduction because he only wants one side done if you share too much information.

We have also had issues with those gutter trays Screwfix sell.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/felt-support-tray-1-5m-5-pack/36622?_requestid=21086

We have seen them used with the lip protruding down into the bottom of shallow, half round guttering. Basically dirt builds up behind the tray, but you can only clean half the gutter.

My first impression is the @Matt steel 118has a PITA customer as he expected the inside of the gutter to be cleaned as well as cleared. I'm not sure how much further I would carry on with this job. I think I would explain to the customer the issue and explain that the job is out of my abilities and needs to get a roofer in to sort the job out. I would hand his money back and wipe my hands of the job. It's all experience which sometimes costs.

I have seen roofers cut the tiles shorter with a grinder as @scottish cleaning servicesays he quotes for. Underneath each tile channel is a nodule to prevent water running back up underneath the tile. Cutting tiles shorter removes that safeguard which could cause more issues further down the line. 

 
I have seen roofers cut the tiles shorter with a grinder as @scottish cleaning servicesays he quotes for. Underneath each tile channel is a nodule to prevent water running back up underneath the tile. Cutting tiles shorter removes that safeguard which could cause more issues further down the line. 
We used to run the felt straight into the gutter but it begins to rot so they sell you a plastic drip guard that sits in the gutter now which prevents rainwater climbing back up the underside of the tile.

 
So basically I did a really underpriced gutter clear for £40.00 on a 3 bed detached . Started on the front the tiles were really close to the gutters closer than normal even my thinnest nozzle wasn't really chopping or moving side to side very well . 

Cut a long story short I did it to the best of my ability given the fact his roof tiles were really close to the gutter but out the back he had a single story extension , so same issues with the tiles again but 35ft of aluminium pole to try and move around and it was getting stuck alot I  cleared it pretty well but he's saying he got on his flat extension and can feel bits in there .

I want to just refund him and move on as a call back could mean doing by hand and my ladders won't do the front very well and I'm out of pocket at £40.

What would you guys do ? I do alot of gutter jobs and this is my first customer to complain.  
First thing I would do is stop offering gutter clearing altogether...I always hated doing them so dont do them anymore and haven't for years now....

Easy regular wfp work is where the happiness and stress free work is IMO..??

 
This is were a gutter survey comes in handy with cam on pole my m8 uses his fone on a holder and records the gutters to see how they are before price 90 percent of my jobs are regular customers so i no the jobs well having cleaned them out many times ?my m8 charges £5  per survey 

 
my m8 charges £5  per survey 
So if he turns up and the customer says they're not bad enough to do he gets £5 for his troubles? I only offer gutter surveys, reports, for the bigger jobs and start with a £50 charge to do it. I then say if I get the job I'll knock it off the bill. Only ever done one and the gutters didn't need doing. Your pal needs to charge £25 and offer to knock it off the bill. Getting £5 for a visit, in my opinion, is nowhere near enough to even cover his costs. 

 
So your earning over a grand a day for clearing gutters?I very much doubt that.....maybe you should join CIU???
Part timer does commercial gutter cleaning 100's of miles from his house.. so far in fact that I met up with him in Hertfordshire and he lives near teeside I think.

You wouldn't do that for peanuts lol.

 
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